My version of Nightshade
by Bunny's daughter
Summary: Nightshade with a few twists of my own (Rating may change later on)
1. Chapter 1

My name is Calla Tor. For years I had loved Renier Laroche, but then Shay Doran came into my life. I fell in love with Shay and ran from my life/destiny in order to save his life. Ren followed us a couple months later. The three of us fought along the Searchers for a year before Ren and I left them to go back for our pack. When we returned, we managed to convince the Keepers we hadn't known what we were doing. Thankfully, they accepted and returned my brother to the wolf he was always meant to be. Our pack was once again whole, and I was happy.

The whole reason we'd returned to the Keepers was because Monroe, one of the friends I'd made among the Searchers and Ren's real father, had asked us too. They needed more information than they had on the Guardian packs in order to plan their next move effectively. We volunteered because the Keepers needed us. They'd be willing to let us come back. I tried not to remember the betrayed looks on the rest of my Searcher friends' faces when Ren and I had left. They didn't know why we were doing this, and it had to stay that way for awhile.

Today marks the day we left the Searchers (almost four months ago) and three more months till Ren's and mine second attempt at our union. Though both Ren and I knew that I was nowhere near ready to decide who I wanted to be with yet. As usual, I drove Ansel and I to school the way I always had since before Shay came into my life. The second we got to school and parked, Ansel hopped out and went off in search of Bryn (my second and his girlfriend). As I walked inside the school, I knew that the pack would be waiting for me. And sure enough all of them were by my locker. They watched me as I dug around for a moment then we went into the cafeteria and sat around our table. There we chatted casually, like one big family, until the first bell rang. Some of the Banes and Nightshades went off in their own directions while Ren, Bryn, Dax, and I went to the history room. As we sat down in our own respective desks, I couldn't help but think about the true history of the Guardians that Ren and I had learned.

…

Five months away from the Searchers and two more months till the union. I constantly found myself wishing that time would go faster. Ren and I had secretly been feeding the Searchers information on the Keepers, but nothing else was allowed to happen yet. I was getting restless and anxious. Something had to happen soon.

But then I realized that time was going to take as long as it wanted. As my mind came to this conclusion, it brought me into other thoughts. If I hadn't left almost a year and a half ago, I'd be married to Ren. We'd be the alphas of the official Haldis pack. Sometimes, with the events that had transpired and the people I'd lost that I cared about, I wished that I could turn back time. I wished that I'd never gone after my own heart's desires. But then I regretted those thoughts. I knew that I'd never turn back time even if I got the chance. The friendships I had now meant more to me than what could have been.

As soon as school was over, I went into the woods behind the school to shift into my wolf form. I ran for a little bit until I reached a clearing. Here, I would wait for Ren and Ansel then we'd run patrol. I let my mind wander as I waited. This time I thought about my friends among the Searchers. I remembered the first time I'd encountered them after running away with Shay. Ethan had been constantly swearing as he failed to hit me with his crossbow bolts. Connor kept taunting him as he swiped at me with his kataras. Monroe had been trying to calm his team down and keep Adne from entering the fight. Gabriel was protecting Silas as the Scribe had insisted on coming along to document everything. As I thought about them all, I was not sure who I missed the most. Fortunately, I didn't have to think very long on that matter as Ren and Ansel joined me. We conversed for a few minutes before we set off on our patrol.

A couple of hours later, the three of us headed to my house. Bryn was waiting for us at the door and as soon as we were inside, she and Ansel went upstairs. Ren and I stayed in the kitchen, and as my parents were out patrolling now, we made dinner for them. While we did so, we talked quietly about the Searchers and how long it'd be before we could go back. Ren and I fell silent as we heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and a moment later Bryn and Ansel rushed out the door as wolves.

…..

There was only one more month to go until the union and so much had changed. Sabine had become a bit nicer to all of us. Dax and Fey had recently gotten together. Cosette had gotten involved with a Bane named Carl that was a year older than her. Ansel and Bryn were still dating. Mason and Neville were going out though Dax didn't really like it and the humans thought of it as weird. But I didn't care who my pack loved, or how they acted, as long as they were happy.

The Keepers had given the pack the day off, so we all went our separate ways. Ren and I however returned to the clearing in the woods behind the school. We talked about how we'd get back to the Searchers and how we'd get our pack to follow us. That wasn't going to be easy, but we'd have to try if we wanted to help our friends win this war. Eventually, we'd sat there talking so long that we got hungry. We ran through the trees until we scented a herd of deer.

Crouching down in the undergrowth, we watched the herd in order to pick out our target. After a minute, we settled on a young buck at the edge of the group that seemed to have an injured leg. Ren and I went over the strategy then slowly got up and crept forward. Without warning we sprang from the bushes. Ren went for the throat and I dove for its injured leg. When I heard the simultaneous crunch of bone and gurgle of blood, I let go of the deer and watched as its body toppled over. Without another word to each other, Ren and I began to eat.

When we'd each had our fill, we trotted over to a shady spot and laid down. Ren fell asleep almost instantly but for some reason I couldn't. I stared out into the now empty area and couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. I didn't know if it was finally the stress of sneaking around the Keepers to get information to the Searchers finally catching up to me, or if it was something else entirely. All I really knew was that sleep would not find me so easily today, even with a full stomach.

…

Tonight was the night of the union and no matter what I told myself, I was nervous. I stood quietly as Sabine, Bryn, Fey, and Cosette helped me get ready for the wedding. Each one of them looked absolutely beautiful. Sabine and Cosette each had their hair up the same way and wore the same blood colored dress. Bryn had her hair up in a complicated style while Fey had just opted to leave hers down, but both girls wore a dress of a beautiful dark rose color. They helped me get my dress on, then Fey and Cosette stood back while Bryn and Sabine did my hair up in a style similar to the way Bryn had hers. Once I was finally ready, the Bane girls left and Mason picked the rest of us up at my house.

Not even quite an hour later, I stood atop a hill waiting for the warrior's song to call me down to the union. I couldn't even really tell how nervous I actually was until I realized that I'd been continuously wiping my palms on my dress. When I finally heard Sabine's voice start the song, I had to stop myself from just running forward. As I slowly walked towards the clearing where the union was being held, I listened as the rest of my packmates' voices joined in the song. I could feel the effect the song had on me. It was pulling me towards the union, the wolves were calling for their alpha.

I entered the clearing and took in the scene. Ren was standing in his human form off to the side of our assembled pack. The Nightshades were on the left side of the clearing while the Banes were on the right. A few Keepers stood towards the front, and Lumine and Efron stood in front of Ren. When I reached Ren, he took his hands in mine and we turned to face our masters. It seemed to take no time at all before an elder from each of our former packs left the clearing. Ren and I were to make our first kill and only then would we be considered husband and wife as well as the alpha pair.

Ren and I shifted into our wolf forms and waited. I smelt the scent of the Searcher long before I saw it. At first I didn't recognize the Searcher until I saw the leather duster. I exchanged a glance with Ren and could tell he was thinking the same thing. _Please don't let this be Connor. Please don't let this be our friend._ But then the elder Bane pulled off the sack that was over the Searcher's head to reveal Connor's face. I watched as his eyes scanned the crowd of assembled wolves, no doubt trying to plan how to escape, until his eyes found me and widened in shock. I gave a small whine but made sure to turn it into a snarl. A moment later Ren did the same. We weren't going to kill someone we'd called our friend.

 _How do we make it look like we're going to kill him without actually killing him?_

 _I don't know, Ren_

Ren and I slowly circled around Connor, making it look like we were planning the best way to attack. Connor's eyes stayed on us the entire time, widening as I stalked towards him. Ren circled around behind him while I made it look like I was keeping Connor's attention on me. With a barely noticeable nod to me, Ren lunged at Connor, knocking him face first into the ground. I darted forward and clamped my jaws around his arm. I made sure it was hard enough to draw blood but not hard enough to seriously hurt him. After a couple of seconds, I released Connor's arm just in time to watch Ren sail over me and slam into an elder Bane. My parents slammed into another pair of wolves just moments after and my pack followed their example. Some of the Nightshades attacked the Banes while other Banes turned and fought their own pack members. For a moment, I watched the tangling of limbs before I remembered Connor. Quickly shifting forms, I dropped down onto my knees to free Connor. Ren moved to my side in order to protect me as I worked to free the Searcher. After Connor was free, he pulled me into a bear hug.

"I knew that you didn't really turn on us," Connor whispered into my ear before pulling back to look at me, "Why did you leave?"

"I'll explain all that later. For now, we have a fight on our hands," I grinned and flashed my fangs at him before I shifted forms. I watched as he drew two swords from wherever they'd been hidden in his clothing because I was amazed he'd managed to keep them with him.

"Just like old times," he said before charging into the fray of wolves. I barked once and went after him followed by Ren. Together the three of us wrecked mass destruction on our opponents.

An hour and a half later, half of both the Nightshade and Bane packs along with my own pack were on the run from the Keepers. Connor had been fatally injured during the skirmish in the clearing, and not wanting to leave him behind, I turned him into a Guardian. So now he was running beside me and Ren as a dark brown, almost black, wolf with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

 _Calla, am I a part of your pack now?_

 _Technically speaking, Connor, yes you are since you're now a wolf. But you're also a Searcher so you'll remain part of the Haldis team as well_

 _I never imagined that something like this would ever happen to me. What will Adne think?_ He turned his head towards me as we continued to run with a curious expression on his face. _How many other Guardians have you created?_

 _I've only ever turned you and Shay,_ I answered him. He nodded his head and just continued to run. I turned Shay so he could save my life. Now I turned Connor in order to save his. It made me wonder how many others I'd turn in order to save their lives.

Within no time at all, we arrived at Rowan Estate. The other Guardians balked at the sight of the building until they saw Ren and I shift and open the door. Only then did they all follow us inside. Inside there was a glimmering portal evidence that Searchers must have just gone through. Ren and I exchanged a glance before we both stepped through, the other Guardians once again reluctantly following our example. We weren't allowed to get very far on the other side of the portal as spears and swords were pointed at us. I scanned the crowd and caught the eyes of a few Searchers, a smile coming to my face once I saw my favorite Searcher team.

"Anika, it's good to see you," I said as I eyed the spears and swords before me.

"Good to see you too, Calla," Anika replied while giving me a cold look. This immediately told me that she did not know of the plan Monroe had concocted and the reason I left, so she didn't know I'd been feeding Searchers at different outposts information on the Keepers. She thought I had betrayed them.

Monroe surprised me slightly by pushing through the assembled Searchers until he stood in front of me, putting himself in front of the spears. Ethan lowered his crossbow a moment later and joined him. Adne, Tess, Gabriel, Silas and even a Searcher I didn't know joined them too, creating a circle around the Guardians. A human shield in between us and the rest of the Searchers.

"Why are you here, Calla?" Anika asked me, still holding my gaze.

"I came back because they were going to make me kill someone that I didn't want to kill. That and it's been awhile since I've seen my home and my friends," I replied and had to resist smiling when Anika looked like I'd caught her off guard. I watched her for a moment, then a minute later she was hugging me, the scent of relief rolling off of her. The Searchers put down their spears and swords in shock as they watched their Arrow.

"Where's Connor?" Adne asked turning to me once the Guardians were safe and all the Searchers, except the Haldis team, left to continue their different duties.


	2. Chapter 2

_Last time:_

 _"Where's Connor?" Adne asked turning to me once the Guardians were safe and all the Searchers, except the Haldis team, left to continue their different duties._

 _..._

The steady growl that'd been going since weapons had been pointed at us ceased, and I turned to see that it had been Connor making the low noise the whole time. I pointed at the dark brown wolf and nodded in his direction.

"Connor's right there," I replied. Adne took one look at the wolf before looking back at me.

"Seriously, Lily, where is he?" Adne questioned and I watched as her eyes slowly began to fill with fear. The dark brown wolf crept up beside me. I looked down at it, giving it a silent order. The wolf understood, bowing its head before Connor stood before us in his human form. Adne jumped back in surprise, scared for a minute, until she realized that it was her boyfriend.

"Connor!" Adne cried out and tackled him with a hug. Connor stumbled back but wrapped his arms around her anyways.

"Hey, Adne," Connor spoke into her hair. I could swear I saw him smiling. Adne smiled up at him but then pulled away so she could look in between the two of us.

"Why were you a wolf?" Adne asked Connor quietly. Connor glanced at me and I nodded.

"After a fight broke out between the packs, I was fatally injured. Calla turned me in order to save my life," Connor told her shrugging slightly, "It's pretty cool actually."

I couldn't help but smile back at Adne as she stared at me with gratefulness. In the next moment she tackled Ren and they were on the floor laughing. I looked up at Monroe and smiled when I saw him smiling at his children. Switching my gaze, I noticed that Ethan was now staring at Sabine. Right beside him was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen. That left me puzzled as I had never seen this Searcher before.

"Who are you?" I asked, slowly approaching the young Searcher. The boy tensed when he saw me and looked at Ethan. Ethan just glanced at me quickly before nodding at the boy.

"My name is Brady. I joined Haldis about four months ago," the Searcher informed me. I nodded my head slightly.

"My name is Calla Tor. I'm the alpha of my pack," I told him while gesturing back towards the younger wolves," I came here about a year and a half ago, but I left on an assignment." This sentence caused Anika to look up at me.

"There was no assignment that called for you and Renier to go back to Vail," her voice was filled with confusion despite the fact she was trying to hide it. I shook my head and smiled at her.

"It wasn't an assignment that came from you, Anika. It came from Monroe," I answered then looked over at the Haldis Guide. Anika followed my gaze as soon as I had said the Guide's name.

"You will inform us of what happened in Tactical. We're going there now to plan how Shay will get Tordis," Anika said then turned and walked down the hall. I walked over and spoke to Silas for a moment to ask him to show the elder wolves to some rooms. He reluctantly agreed to do so when I told him I'd inform him of what happened in the meeting afterwards. With that done, I turned and followed Anika's footsteps with the younger wolves on my heels.

When my pack and I had filed into Haldis Tactical, I took a moment to look around. Searchers I'd both gotten to know and had not had a chance to looked relieved that Ren and I were back along with other Guardians. But I could tell that other Searchers did not want to trust me again so soon.

"Why did you go back to Vail, Calla?" Anika inquired. She got straight to the point, not wasting any time.

"I went back with Ren because Monroe asked me to," I told her again. She turned her gaze off of me, sending a small glare towards the Haldis Guide.

"What assignment did you give them, Monroe?" Anika asked as she seemed to be holding back anger. I could understand why she was angry. She was the leader of the Searchers.

"I asked them to go back so they could keep an eye on the Keepers for us. We got a steady stream of information from them to the outposts. They helped us so we'd be able to better coordinate our strikes against the Keepers," Monroe said calmly, looking over at me. Anika frowned slightly but then nodded, choosing not to say anything else on the matter.

"So how are we going to retrieve Haldis?" I questioned. I was eager to go out into another fight.

"A strike team was going to be sent in," Anika answered. Ren shook his head.

"You need to send in two teams. One serves as a distraction while the other retrieves Tordis. The Keepers will be expecting only one team otherwise," Ren said and a lot of the Searchers began nodding. Pascal, the Tordis Guide, stepped forward so he was beside Anika.

"I will be leading the strike team. My team is coming with me. But I still need a few more people. I'd like you to join us," Pascal said turning to Ren. Surprisingly, the two of them had gotten along great the last time Ren and I were here.

"I'd be honored. I hope Mason, Neville, Cosette, Carl, Dax, and Fey would be willing to join us," as Ren said each name, each of the wolves nodded their heads at him.

"I want Calla, Sabine, Ansel, Bryn, and the Haldis team coming with me to retrieve Tordis." I turned to see that Shay was standing in between Anika and Monroe. I threw a glare in Ren's direction as he'd started to growl at Shay. Was a fight over me going to ensue again now that Ren and I were back. Smiling I turned and nodded my head at Shay, I'd go with him.

"When do we go?" I inquired.

"Now," Anika answered smiling at me. I nodded and stood back to watch Adne weave a door. The strike team assembled near where she was along with the Guardians that had been chosen to go along. All their heads were bent together as Pascal told them what they were going to do when they fought.

As I continued to watch Adne, I sensed Shay walk up beside me causing me to tense up. I hadn't told Shay that I was leaving to go back to Vail. I couldn't. He would have wanted to stop me. But I hadn't wanted to let Monroe down, so I left before Shay got a chance to say anything to me.

"Calla?" Shay's voice drifted into my ears. I didn't bother turning towards him.

"Yeah?" I asked, watching as the first team went through the door Adne had just gotten done weaving.

"Why did you leave?" Shay asked and I tensed up even more. I didn't want to talk about that again. I was back now. Why couldn't that just be enough for him?

"Monroe asked me to," was all I told him before I shifted, the rest of my pack shifting as well. My eyes fell on Connor and Adne as they bent their heads close and talked to each other. A moment later, he nodded at her shifting into a wolf before joining us.

Nice to have you joins us, Connor.

Nice to join you, O great and powerful alpha.

Not this again!

Sorry. You've been gone a year and a half. Have to pick on you again somehow.

Connor shook his dark brown ruff and barked at me playfully, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. I rolled my eyes and barked right back at him, telling him to shut up. He in turn darted forward at nipped at my shoulder. I barked at him again and he playfully nudged my shoulder. I shook my head and jumped through the portal.

I landed on all fours on the mountain top. The cool air and the cold snow beneath my feet hit me like a frosty wave. I dashed forward then turned to watch the rest of my team walk through. As soon as Adne stepped through the shimmering window, she turned and slashed her skeans across it. Connor shifted into human form which startled Adne. He chuckled and ducked her swing at him before drawing his sword and moving forward.

Connor ran his hand along the rock's surface until his hand slipped into a hole. I tensed automatically. He cried out and I rushed towards him. He started to laugh as soon as I reached him.

"Are you ever serious, Connor?" I asked slapping him on the arm and letting a small growl escape me. I was relieved that he hadn't been hurt, but I was pissed that he'd make us think that he had been.

"Only when I need to be, Cal," Connor replied smiling as he removed his unharmed hand from the hole. Taking a careful step forward, I could see that it wasn't a small hole his hand had slipped into but rather an opening that would be big enough for everyone to slip through.

"The wolves will be able to get through this opening easily. The rest of you will have to squeeze through. And for goodness sake, be careful," I said turning back to my pack and the Haldis team. My eyes fell on Shay, and I ended up feeling my love for him rise up within me. But I quickly pushed it down. I couldn't afford to show favoritism towards either him or Ren. I couldn't afford to have them fighting over me, I needed their help.

My pack shifted into their wolf forms, standing by and waiting for me to make the next move. Connor stayed human so he could talk with Adne. I looked at him, for a second, confused but then remembered he'd been a Searcher far longer than a wolf. Connor would be more likely to feel comfortable in his human form and I respected that.

"I'll join you once we're inside, Calla," Connor said, not even looking at me. He must have felt my eyes on him. I nodded and joined my pack as a wolf. One by one, we went through the opening in the rock face. Each of us moving off to the side as the others filed through. We could hear the sounds of the battle above us. I shifted back into my human form and took out a notebook that I had in a satchel, writing down what had happened so far. Connor was the last one in and as soon as he got in, he shifted into his dark brown wolf form. He barked at me and I nodded. I put the notebook back into the satchel and shifted back into my own wolf form. I barked back at him and we started heading into the caverns. I hadn't realized, but I enjoyed having a Searcher as a packmate. It was different, but I liked it.


End file.
